Second Chance Soars: Pacers From The Dump

There were 365 folks waiting in line for the 9 a.m. opening of the Second Chance doors Friday. The building’s capacity is 300; so, 65 had to be held back while the first 300 arrivals –– some of whom got in line at 4 a.m. –– were let in to shop. The place remained at capacity for two hours and busy as all get out the rest of the day.

When the La Grange thrift shop was opened by the St. James rector, Rev. Deena Harrison –– now, Bishop Harrison –– in 1996, nobody including the heads of area sister churches who worked with her could have envisioned this kind of popularity.

Looking at the overwhelming crowd, I wondered, just how much good is happening in our community because of that early vision. How to measure the impact?

Then I thought, what if every piece of used stuff bought that day were instead a new purchase? How much water, electricity, etc. would these used-item purchases save over making brand new stuff instead?

So, I put on my lab coat and huddled with my crack research assistants –– Siri and Alexa and Chatbot –– and dug in. What follows is what I found out.

So happens, in the heart of La Grange, a quiet revolution is in process — one gently used item at a time. The Second Chance Emporium has grown into something far greater than a neighborhood shop. It’s a vital engine for local sustainability. And a living testament to what we can achieve when we choose to reuse instead of replace.

Many of us drop by to scarf up a vintage jacket, air fryer, or a necessity like a foosball table in almost perfect condition save one kicker with a leg missing. And that’s swell, but the true magic of the Emporium is the staggering, invisible impact it creates every week. Thanks to the community’s commitment to mindful shopping, our little store is moving a mountain of goods. The environmental benefits? Nothing short of transformative.

Every week, the Second Chance Emporium finds new homes for nearly 20,000 pounds of goods. To put that in perspective, that’s like taking five or six dreadful AMC Pacers off the road and keeping them out of a landfill—every single week! By keeping goods in circulation, we aren’t just cleaning out our closets. We are perpetuating a circular economy that puts stewardship over waste.

But the real “wow” factor goes beyond just clearing out clutter. Think about the hidden cost of “new.” Manufacturing, processing, and shipping new clothing or appliances or foosball tables requires an astronomical amount of water. By shopping at Second Chance, we are playing a direct role in massive water conservation. Its weekly operations save an estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 gallons of water. That is enough to fill up to 5,000 Jacuzzi hot tubs every week. That is a massive volume of H2O, our most precious natural resource. Water saved instead of being wasted on the production of items that are already sitting right here on our shelves.

Then there’s the air we breathe. The production and transport of new consumer goods are major drivers of carbon emissions. By choosing pre-owned, our shoppers prevent over 45,000 pounds of carbon from entering the environment every week. To put that in scale, that is the equivalent amount of carbon sequestered by 150 of acres of U.S. forest over an entire year. Every time we browse our aisles, we are “planting” an invisible forest that works around the clock to clean the air.

Second Chance Emporium exists because the folks there believe everything deserves a second chance (except AMC Pacers, maybe) —including the goods they sell, the items we all donate, and the people they serve.

Next time you stop by to see what’s new, remember that your purchase is doing far more than finding a home for a used item. You are saving millions of gallons of water, fighting climate change, and reducing waste. You are supporting a mission that reaches far beyond the walls of our shop. And you are extending the life of almost perfectly good-as-new foosball tables.

Also, opting for secondhand clothing is a powerful way to take a stand against the exploitative labor practices endemic to the fast fashion industry. By choosing pre-owned garments, you effectively de-couple your consumption from the supply chains that frequently rely on child labor and unsafe working conditions to drive down costs.

And if that’s not enough, “Second Chance donations to area charities over the last year totaled $654,900,” according to Lil Landry, a Second Chance champion from way back. “That includes such diverse nonprofits as our animal shelter, Festival Hill, Habitat for Humanity, Tejas Clinic, and all the area food banks Thank you for making the Second Chance Emporium a powerhouse of community good. It’s just one more thing I find that makes our community special.